Former Premier League striker Gabby Agbonlahor believes Bruno Fernandes may come to feel like he ‘wasted’ the most effective years of his profession by playing at Manchester United.
Fernandes has been, doubtless, United’s most consistent performer since joining the club from Sporting for an initial fee of around £47million back in 2020.
The 31-year-old has racked up 105 goals and 103 appearances in 319 appearances for the club, while also winning the Sir Matt Busby Player of the 12 months award on 4 occasions.
And despite playing the primary of the season in a deeper role under Ruben Amorim, his two assists on the weekend in a 3-1 win over Aston Villa means only Erling Haaland (29) has bettered his goal contribution tally (23) within the league this campaign.
Discussing Fernandes’ current form, former Villa striker Agbonlahor insisted United can be in a vastly different position without their talismanic captain.
‘I’m scared to think where Manchester United would have been within the last five years, especially this season, without Bruno Fernandes,’ he told talkSPORT.
’27 Premier League appearances, seven goals, 16 assists. Irrespective of how bad they’ve been, he has turned up.’
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While Fernandes has broken several records during his time at Old Trafford, the Portuguese midfielder has only won two trophies with the Red Devils: The FA Cup in 2024 and Carabao Cup in 2023.
And Agbonlahor wonders whether not having a league or Champions League trophy on his resume could have Fernandes regretting his decision to remain at United for therefore long.
He added: ‘But I said this in a previous show a number of months ago. He’s 32 in September, he has won one FA Cup, one League Cup for Manchester United.
‘Could he leave Manchester United in the future and look back and say, ‘Did I waste my best years at Manchester United?’
‘Since you take a look at someone like De Bruyne – won all of it at Manchester City.
‘But Bruno Fernandes, he’s that good, he deserves to depart the Premier League winning the Premier League and likewise Champions League for me – that good.’
Fernandes is under contract at United until 2027, with the choice of an additional 12 months, but reports suggest he has a £56.6 million (€65m) release clause in his current deal, which could be triggered by overseas clubs.
But interim head coach Michael Carrick insisted on the weekend that the club haven’t any desire to let their skipper leave in the summertime.
‘By way of the club and moving forward, it’s difficult for me to become involved in an excessive amount of of that,’ the United interim manager told reporters.
‘Bruno is unquestionably not someone we’d wish to lose, I can say that.
‘This summer and beyond that, it’s difficult for me to type of go too far with that.
‘But actually, he’s vital for us and he’s definitely not one we’d wish to lose.’
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